Nessie and the Zoo
by 11June11
Summary: Nessie loves the zoo, unfortunately, the zoo doesn't love her. Nessie/Jacob fluff.


**Disclaimer:**** As much as I would like to say I do, I do not own the Twilight Saga. The almighty Stephenie Meyer owns it.**

**Note:**** This takes place several years in the future. As far as I know, the scientific names of animals mentioned are accurate. If they aren't, blame Google. Also, I have never been to the Seattle Zoo, so the zoo described almost certainly does not look anything like the real one. If you have ever been there, sorry for the inaccuracies. :-)**

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"Momma! Momma! Guess what?" Perfection herself danced her way into the kitchen and sailed into Bella's arms.

At the same time, Bella set down the knife she was using to cut up apples. "What, sweetie?" She caught her effortlessly and spun her around in a circle, causing my Nessie to giggle happily.

"Jacob's taking me to the zoo today! I get to seeall the pretty animals! But don't worry; I know I can't eat them." She was just so sweet and innocent!

"That's great, sweetheart. The one in Seattle?" Bella stroked Nessie's hair lightly and I felt a sudden urge to clutch her in my own arms so I could do the same.

"Yep! They have lots and lots of lions, like Daddy's favorite, wolves, but not as pretty or nice as Jake and his friends, and bears, like the ones Uncle Emmett likes to tease! And they even have a petting zoo. I want to pet the monkey! It will be so much fun!"

Ever since I had suggested the zoo earlier this morning, she had been obsessed with it. I could barely pull her away from her laptop long enough to eat breakfast. Just getting her away from her "research" to tell Bella like this had been a challenge. But I wasn't complaining; as long as she was happy, I was perfectly content.

Bella turned to me. "Are you leaving now?" I nodded. "When do you think you'll be back?"

I chuckled as Nessie started bouncing in her arms, nodding her head violently in response to "leaving now." "Who knows with this little ball of energy? I'll try to have her back by dark."

"Make sure she gets lunch and dinner," Bella said, and I rolled my eyes; of course I would feed her. "How much money do you need?" Bella added

That was the great thing about our family: they give out money like it's nothing. How convenient for Nessie and myself!

"Nessie, how much is admission?" I asked the little expert.

"Ten dollars for you; I'm free, since I look like I'm only four!" Amidst her glee, she frowned a little. She hated that, despite already being more intelligent than most adults, she looked like a child and actually_ was_ even younger.

I took a step toward her and took her from Bella's arms. Clutching her as she burrowed her tiny head into my wide chest, I whispered, "you're just really compact."

Her giggle was muffled by my skin. "Really, really compact."

I smiled. "I think seventy or so will do it. Zoo food is really expensive and she'll probably want something from one —or all-- of the gift shops."

"Especially expensive for bottomless werewolves," Nessie muttered.

"Yes, especially for bottomless werewolves," I agreed, chuckling. I stroked her back lightly.

Bella walked over and got her purse, pulling out three twenties and a ten. "Here," she said, pushing them to me. "And, Renesmee, you _need_ to eat. I know you don't like many human foods, but it will be a long day for you. Jacob," she looked up to glare at me, "she's _not_ allowed to just eat ice cream all day." Ice cream was her favorite food—actually it was one of the only human foods she would happily eat. "Jacob, make sure you put a shirt on, too."

Damn. Almost forgot. I_ never_ wore shirts anymore. When I wasn't in wolf form doing patrols with the annoyingly love struck, imprinted Seth, I was wrestling or hunting with my little Nessie. That, or sleeping with her on top of me. She rarely slept in her new (big girl!) bed anymore. She claimed I was much softer and warmer, not to mention I smelled better. My ego swelled with the thought.

I sat Nessie down on the counter and sprinted up to the room that was Edward's before Bella's change. Alice had insisted on filling the empty walk-in closet with every kind of clothing imaginable, just in case I ever needed it. There was even a small bed in one corner of the bedroom, not that it was ever needed. Seth, also, usually just crashed on the couch downstairs whenever he pried himself away from his imprint long enough to sleep here. I threw on the first shirt I saw and dug around the hanging dress pants until I found a new, not ragged, pair of shorts. On my way out the door, I grabbed a pair of sneakers and tugged them on as I sprinted back down the stairs and into the kitchen.

I scooped my little angel back into my arms saying, "Ready to go Ness?"

She wrapped her arms around my neck as she said, "bye, Momma. Say goodbye to Daddy and everyone for me when they get back from hunting," at the same time I said, "see ya, Bells. I'm taking the Prism." I was grabbing the keys from the rack by the door as Bella answered, saying, "'bye. Love you, Renesmee."

I put Nessie in the passenger seat and handed the buckle to her. It was a bit above her head. Her adorable little legs stuck straight out, unable to bend over the distant edge of the seat.

Sliding into the new, top-of-the-line Prism Edward had bought to replace his ageing Volvo, I briefly marveled at the sleek, autophile's dream car before pulling out of the garage and down the dirt road to the highway.

"Nessie, you know the way right? I can get us to Seattle." Probably should have thought of that before….

"Of course, silly," she giggled adorably before stretching forward and pushing the button to turn the radio on to some classic station. I smiled as she obviously wanted me too, but, when I turned back to the road, I winced at the awful "music." I could never understand the Cullen's' obsession with classical music. I guess it has something to do with most being born at least a hundred years ago….

We rode in comfortable silence until we reached Seattle, where Nessie started giving directions. She could barely see over the dashboard to tell me where to turn next. I felt bad for her, but I also couldn't help chuckling silently at the same time. The way her face scrunched when she stretched neck was beyond adorable.

As my chuckles became louder and louder the more she stretched, she turned to glare at me. I instantly shut up.

"You think I'm funny do you, Jacob? Well, you can find your own way to the zoo!" She sat back in the seat and crossed her little twig-like arms in tiger-kitten sort of way.

"Sorry, Ness." As I apologized, I saw a sign saying "Seattle Zoo: next right." I smirked.

She saw the sign an instant after I did. She grumbled. "Not fair."

"Totally fair," I threw back, and she stuck her little pink tongue out at me. I stuck mine out, too.

Both of us chuckling softly, I pulled the car into the zoo toll booth, handed the bored collector the ten, got change, and pulled into the closest spot to the main entrance as I could.

I shut off the Prism and walked around to Nessie. As she unbuckled herself, I said, "do you want to walk?"

She looked up at me and raised her arm as high as she could. I leaned my face down for her. A picture of her in my arms as I walked to the ticket booth entered my mind. It was colored with annoyance and I could almost hear her saying "duh!"

I smiled. "How silly of me!" I scooped her up and began walking. She kept her hand pressed against my cheek, showing me pictures of what she wanted to see first.

I carried her to the gate and paid another bored employee. "Do you want a map?" the pimply teenager droned.

"How 'bout it, Ness? Need a map?"

She sniffed. "I know this zoo better than any of the employees." She stuck her nose in the air and I laughed, kissing it gently.

"Joking, Ness."

She rolled her eyes and I walked through the gate, not bothering with the offensive map.

"Where first?" I asked looking around at the half dozen souvenir stands and various food stalls that were scattered between exotic plants and the signs pointing to various exhibits.

"Well… the lions are this way, like I showed you before, but the wolves are that way…. Hmm… lets start with the lions. The wolves can't be nearly as impressive as you and the boys and Leah are."

"Darn right!" I declared. I looked around some more and saw an old lady with a set of twins and a rather hairy-gorilla looking man staring at us. I whispered, "uh, Ness? You might want to keep the talking to a four-year-old level, or at least whisper. People are staring."

She pouted, and I instantly regretted asking her to be quiet. Backtracking, I said quickly, "but only if you want to!"

She whispered, "No, I'll be quieter. Stupid body!"

I smoothed her hair as I began walking towards the various lion exhibits. "I like your body. I can do this much easier when you're this size." I tossed her gently in the air and she squealed in joy. When she was in my arms again, we hugged each other close and whispered, "I love you."

A minute later we reached the first of the giant cats—well, that's according to the pitifully small humans around me. Next to someone who turned into a giant wolf on a regular basis, the lions were pitifully small.

Nessie squirmed out of my arms and rushed forward, lacing her fingers into the chain-link fence. She had a giddy smile on her face, and I felt mine copy hers.

"_Panthera leo_," she whispered a moment later. The three cats were on various rocks a few dozen yards away from us, sunning themselves despite the cloudy day.

I started as she whispered that scientific name for the cats in front of us. "How'd you know that Nessie?" I asked.

Despite not being able to see her face, I could tell she was rolling her eyes. "I told you; I love zoo animals. And it's on this sign." Without looking up, she tapped a sign which was literally a foot from her head. In big, bold writing it was titled, "_PANTHERA LEO_: THE LION," and gave a brief description below it. Stupid me!

Nessie "ooh"ed and "ahh"ed at the distant "_Panthera leos_" for several more minutes before wandering over to the mountain lions.

"_Felis concolor,"_ she trilled. "Daddy's favorite."

"No hunting," I teased and she glanced back to glare at me.

"What? I can't tease you?"

"No."

I pouted and she took my hand, which was almost level with her little head, and squeezed it gently as she smiled, and then pulled me over to one of the tiger exhibits.

I followed happily and she walked over to the jaguar compound. One of the jaguars was a few feet from us. As we walked forward, the wind shifted and I saw the jaguar walk rather hurriedly away.

Ignoring the animal's weird action, I hoisted Nessie on to my shoulders. She squealed and I laughed.

"Ooh! How pretty! The pictures don't do them justice. Did you know they have new jaguar cubs here? No one can see them yet, though. They're too little. The big ones are beautiful, though…." Nessie was having so much fun; I couldn't stop myself from loving the zoo, too.

A while later, she finally grew tired of the distant jaguars that seemed uninterested in coming near the fence and ordered me to walk us to the next group of exhibits: the bears.

After passing some rather grumpy parrots in an exhibit surrounded by palm trees, we reached the grizzly bears.

Nessie laughed as she saw two of them wrestling over a scrap of fish. "They look like Uncle Emmett. No wonder he loves them so much: they're his clones!"

We passed the black bears that were in the midst of feeding time. One bear was obviously not hungry and had wandered over by the fence. As Nessie climbed at human speed down from my shoulders, the black bear let out a warning whine and galloped back to where the others were eating. Weird.

"What was that about?" Nessie asked, cocking her head. "Did my climbing scare her?" She glanced around; we were the only people within several yards of where the bear had been.

"Don't know, Ness. Maybe she got hungry." I shrugged.

Nessie stared at the feeding bears for a few more minutes before guiding me over past the apes. Again, they looked up as we paused and seemed to move away from us.

"Are they scared of me?" Nessie whispered. "I won't hurt them."

"Naw!" I scoffed. "You're overanalyzing." Despite my words, my eyes narrowed. _Were_ the animals scared of me? Of little Nessie?

"Alright," she said hesitantly, before spotting the monkeys off to the side. "MONKEYS!"

I laughed as she ran over. A guide was standing by one part of the fence. Nessie ran up to him and yanked on his uniform until he looked down.

"How can I help you, little one?" he said condescendingly.

"I am not little! And I want to pet a monkey. Your website said I could."

The stupid man looked exasperated and rolled his eyes. "Honey, the ones you can pet are in the petting zoo. It's on the other side of the park. Have your mommy take you there."

I heard roaring in my ears. How dare he talk to her like that! Didn't he realize how precious she was?

I jogged over, barely able to keep it at a human pace. My massive frame towered over his miniscule body. "She's with me, _sir_. She just made a mistake. She got over-excited and forgot the petting zoo was not in this area. There is no reason to be rude."

The man paled. "Y-yes. S-sorry, d-d-dear?" he phrased his apology like a question, as if afraid that calling her "dear" would offend me.

I jerked my head at the idiot, silently telling him to leave, before crouching down beside Nessie and pulling her into my arms for a hug. She looked ready to cry.

"Don't cry, my Nessie. Please don't cry. He's just an idiot. Do you want me to go wolf on him for you?"

She hiccupped a laugh between dry sobs, burrowing her face into by shoulder. At least the tears weren't flowing yet.

"N-no." She rubbed her eyes, stopping the imminent tears. "Let's see the rest of the exhibits on this side before we go pet my monkeys."

I lifted her up, cradling her in my arms. She pressed her head into my neck, and I said desperately, "C'mon, Nessie, love, let's go see the wolves."

She nodded against my skin and I carried her over to the next set of exhibits. A smallish grey one was near the barrier.

"Hey, look, it's Leah! Hi Leah!" I waved at it and was rewarded with a small smile.

"H-Hi L-L-Leah," Nessie gasped.

The startled Leah-wolf looked up at the sound of her voice. A second later, the wind shifted and the wolf jumped like a cat and ran off towards the wooded edge of the enclosure.

"EVERYBODY HATES ME!!!" Nessie wailed, shoving herself violently into my chest.

My face crumpled. Where had our beautiful little zoo visit gone?

I sat down cross-legged right where I was, squeezing her as tightly as I dared to my body. "Shh. They're just stupid zoo animals, my Nessie. They don't understand that you aren't a predator.

"I-I-I w-w-w-won't h-hurt t-th-th-them," she sobbed.

"They don't know that, sweetness. They think they are in the wild and that you will hunt them."

"B-b-but I-I w-w-won't," she sobbed even harder, if that was possible.

"Shh, I know," I whispered, rocking her gently. A few humans passed us, looking over curiously. At the hostile glance I gave each one of them, they ran off.

I was getting desperate. I _had_ to cheer her up. Now.

I glanced around frantically for something to distract her with. Wolves? Stupid, that would set her off again. Trees? Get a brain, Jacob! Popcorn stand? Ulk, Nessie hated popcorn. Ice cream cart? Wait! That would work!

"Nessie, how 'bout some ice cream? I know I told Bella that I wouldn't, but we can make a special exception, huh?"

Nessie sniffed once more than nodded against my heart. I quickly stood up and trotted over to the ice cream cart.

"Let's see… they've got… chocolate, vanilla, animal tracks, and mint ting-a-ling. What do you want?"

"All ob dem?" She sniffed through an adorable glob of snot. I picked up a napkin from the stand and passed it to her, saying, "We'll take two larges. All four types."

The woman's eyes bugged, but she started scooping the flavors. Every few seconds she would glance up anxiously at Nessie, who was still sniffling lightly into my now soaked shirt. I rubbed her back lightly.

"Um, sir? Is your daughter alright?" The woman was obviously _trying_ to be considerate.

"My niece." I gave the cover story we had recently been using for Nessie and myself. "Scared a few animals."

Nessie started sobbing again and I flinched, instantly rubbing her back and placing little kisses on her hair. "I'm sorry, my Nessie! I'm sorry!" Damn! Note to self: don't talk about it!

The woman realized she was upsetting Nessie and scooped the rest of the ice cream in silence. When she was done, I stuck a spoon in each and grabbed the bowls as best I could in one hand. I carried Nessie over to a low wall of stone, obviously placed there just for this purpose.

Nessie unclenched her hands enough to grab hold of her ice cream. I could tell her body was warring between the promise of delicious ice cream and the demand to continue crying. She settled on sniffling between bites.

I rubbed her back with one hand and ate with the other, the bowl precariously balanced on the knee Nessie wasn't occupying. Between bites, I shh'd her with "my Nessie"s and "my precious one"s. If I had to say something like that to anyone else, I would be mortally embarrassed; but for my little bundle of perfection, I would say and do anything gladly.

As we ate, the sniffles became quieter and less and less frequent. Nessie still had her head buried in the crook of my shoulder, but she seemed much better.

Chucking my now empty bowl into a garbage can a few feet away, I said, "Nessie, are you feeling better?" I picked up her partially eaten ice cream and began to feed it to her as I had done when she looked a few months old. She nodded as she opened her mouth obediently for the food.

"I just don't understand why they hate me," she whispered. "I know not to eat them."

I chuckled dryly. "Ness, I told you: they don't understand that. All they know is that they smell a predator. You've got too much leech in you."

She punched my knee lightly. "Watch it, dog," she grumbled but I could see a tiny smile on her lips.

"Yep, but I'm your dog, m' darling," I sniggered quietly at our game.

Nessie sighed. "I don't think I want to see anymore animals today, Jacob. They don't seem to want to see me anyway…."

My heart wrenched. "Don't you want to pet the monkeys still? I'm sure they'll be able to contain their fear once they smell the human in you." I wanted her to have at least _some_ fun today.

Nessie thought about it for a few seconds before nodding. She pressed her palm to my cheek, showing me a picture of a slightly frightened monkey who was backing away from her. "Revenge!" her thoughts screamed evilly.

"Tsk, tsk. Be nice, little girl." I teased when my vision cleared.

"No," she grumbled playfully before returning her hand to my cheek, ordering me to start walking over to the petting zoo; I did so obediently, acknowledging just how whipped I was.

I walked us to the petting zoo and sat her down just outside the gate. Inside, children, accompanied by their exhausted parents, pet little sheep and goats. Off to the side were the more exotic animals; a woman held a six inch little snake out of a tiny girl to touch, a parrot squawked at a two-year-old who insisted on pulling out the poor bird's feathers, and three monkeys swung on a low piece of plastic molded into a tree-ish shape.

"MONKEY!" Nessie screeched and tore through the gate, scattering terrified goats and making the parrot squawk even louder. Nessie ran on, oblivious, until she reached the nearest monkey, which she immediately grabbed in her little arms and squeezed tightly.

I sighed. "Ness, sweetie, don't hurt the monkey." I called out.

As I walked over, the monkey's brain caught up with its surroundings and began to struggle frantically. Obliviously, Ness began talking to it. "You're just so cute! And warm! Just like my Jake! Such pretty eyes…."

I rolled _my_ eyes. "Sweetness, I think it wants to get down."

"…look at that tail—oh, what did you say, Jake? Look at my pretty monkey!"

"It's very pretty," I agreed. "But it wants to go play with its friends now."

Nessie looked down at it, finally realizing the problem. "Oh, sorry, monkey." She opened her arms wide, and the monkey immediately scampered out of them and towards the goats. The second monkey was already on the other side of the pen, with many sheep, goats, and children crying between us. With the new monkey scampering across, the chaos increased exponentially.

I glanced around uncertainly, hoping no one was hurt, or worse, they would throw us out. _That_ would just make Nessie's day.

Surprisingly, no one came running to us. The woman with the snake huffed loudly and went back to her job while the few other staff members and the parents calmed the children. No one even seemed to notice Nessie or me.

As I glanced around anxiously, Nessie focused on the third monkey, who was still in the tree. The monkey stared back at her curiously, but not in the least afraid. Slowly, it hopped down from its low branch and began to make its way towards Nessie, who had gone vampire still. Halfway to Nessie, it stopped, tentatively, as if afraid Nessie wouldn't like it.

"Come here, love," Nessie crooned at her, holding one hand out and kneeling down on the ground. The little thing inched forward until its face made contact with Nessie's outstretched hand, then immediately jumped into Nessie's lap, almost knocking her over backwards. Nessie giggled happily and began petting it.

"Jake! Jake! Look! She's not afraid of me!" I crouched down next to her and peered at the little ball of fluff. The monkey immediately stretched back into Nessie, hiding itself in her long hair. It stared out at me with one little eye.

"Shh. It's okay, Jakey won't hurt you. It's his job to protect us little people." Nessie sang at it, and it shyly pushed her hair out of its face.

Ness chuckled. "She almost reminds me of Momma. She never feared Daddy, just like she isn't afraid of me—and she doesn't seem too scared of you, just frightened by your size, you big wolf. Hmm, I think I'll call her 'Bella,' just like Momma."

I smiled. Finally, Nessie had found an animal which wasn't terrified of her. I stretched one finger out towards "Bella," trying to pet her to humor Nessie. As soon as the finger was in range, the monkey snarled and bit down on me. Yep, just like Bella.

After scolding "Bella" gently, Nessie continued petting the monkey and talking to it like a baby. After twenty minutes, I went over and sat on a bench by the wooden walls to watch. It was almost an hour later, when the petting zoo was closing, that Nessie consented to leave. As the exhausted employees pushed us out into the still open zoo, Nessie called back, vowing to visit Bella often. I chuckled; well, at least she was happy.

"So," I said as we walked around, "do you want to see if you can find anymore pro-vamp animals around here, or just head home?"

Nessie thought for a moment before saying, "I want to go home, but can I get a monkey stuffed animal before we go? To remember Bella with?"

"Of course, love," I said scooping her up into my arms. "You know you can have anything you want."

She squealed, kissed my cheek, and used my chest as a springboard to launch herself onto the pathway, running at high speed. Startled, I ran after her calling, "Nessie! Nessie, wait! I need to pay for it!"

I caught up with her at a souvenir shop quite a ways down the trail. She was looking at a shelf full of monkey stuffed animals, all of which looked very unrealistic to me. Nessie, a pout on her face, was digging around the cheesy stuffed animals, looking for just the right one. A minute later, a muffled "got her!" came from underneath the now jumbled mess of one hundred monkeys and one very static-haired Ness.

Shoving the fluff balls out of her way, Nessie emerged carrying a fairly realistic monkey, quite similar to the type Bella had been. It was actually sort of cute.

"Isn't it adorable?" Nessie squealed. I felt my imprint instincts kicking in and instantly fell just as in love with the cute little stuffed animal before me.

"It is wonderful, Nessie," I felt myself gushing. Somehow I couldn't regret my exaggerated reaction.

After a few more minutes of mutual ooh'ing and ahh'ing, Nessie let me take the stuffed monkey, now appropriately named Bella, up to the cash register. During the thirty seconds it took to ring it up, Nessie jumped up and down, almost vibratingly fast, begging for her Bella. I eventually just snatched the monkey back from the exasperated clerk and handed it to a now squealing Nessie. These zoo people just seemed to have no respect for the most perfect angel who could ever exist! What was wrong with them?!

After sufficient squealing, I gave Nessie (and Bella the stuffed monkey) a piggyback ride to the Prism, where the two immediately started a "conversation" about how a monkey's tail functions. Neither even noticed me until we were halfway back to Forks.

When Nessie finally pulled herself away from the monkey, it was to ask me to buy her more ice cream.

"Of course, sweetness," I said, simultaneously thinking, "Edward and Bella are gonna kill me!" Well, at least Nessie would be happy….

I pulled into a Perry's ice cream shop a few miles down the highway, and swung into the attached drive-thru. Goodness knows how long we would have been here if Nessie got distracted again. It was getting dark as it was.

Nessie ordered a chocolate sundae and I asked for a large twist. It took her the whole rest of the trip to eat the gigantic bowl of food; I, on the other hand, just shoved my cone into my mouth in two bites. I could have done it in one, but I was trying to be polite and not stuff my face.

We pulled into the Cullen's garage just as Nessie was licking the last of the chocolate sauce from her spoon. Emmett sat on a cement block next to the bimbo's M3, lifting it like a jack.

As I pulled Nessie out into my arms I called, "Hey, Emmett! If you wanted a dirty blonde, you should have married a real Golden Retriever."

The leech in question pulled herself out from under the car, just as filthy with oil as I had expected. She wiped her hands on her designer jeans and scowled at me.

Emmett laughed, receiving a whack to the back of his head from his disgusting wife. "Sorry, Rosie," he said meekly. "And watch it, mongrel." As the horrible blonde turned back to glare triumphantly at me, Emmett winked.

Nessie giggled at the banter and said, "You two get along, or I'm calling Daddy."

"You wouldn't dare," I growled playfully, grabbing both her legs securely and hanging her upside down, her long, gorgeous hair cascading towards the cement floor.

She shrieked out a laugh and began swinging back and forth, trying to right herself. After a few moments she managed to swing herself upright and wrapped her arms around my neck. "Behave," she glared, trying to look ferocious.

"Yes, ma'am," I mumbled, pretending to be repentant.

She smacked my shoulder and ordered me to run her back home. I jogged away from Emmett and the Devil's right-hand vamp, with Nessie leaning back over my shoulder, waving goodbye to them.

I jumped the river and plowed through the trees to the cabin. A light was on in the front living room. Well, at least Edward and Bells hadn't started their "nightly routine" yet.

I walked in to see Bella cuddled in Edward's lap, a book pressed between them. From the short lines instead of sentences, it looked like one of the Shakespeare plays Bella loved so much. Me, I like the proper English of modern books (when I even have the time and energy to read them).

As I walked in carrying Nessie, Edward closed the book, his voice trailing off of some scene he had been reading to Bella. I vaguely recognized some of the lines as from _A Midsummer's Night Dream_—that darn book they had made us read in middle school.

"Hello Nessie, love. Hello Jacob. Did you have a nice time at the zoo? Renesmee seems exhausted and you've been gone so long, you must have had a good time."

Right, exhaustingly good time, I thought sarcastically. _The vampire side of her nature frightened quite a few animals, but she did find one suicidal monkey at the petting zoo who she quaintly named 'Bella,'_ _so, yes, she did have fun, _I told Edward with my thoughts.

"I see," he said, and Bella looked at him quizzically. "Nessie's…err… vampire side frightened a few creatures," he explained to her.

Nessie hopped out of my arms and flung herself onto the pile of her parents. "Look, momma, look! I got a stuffed monkey! I named it Bella, just like you, because the real one—they wouldn't let me take her home—wasn't afraid of me. She let me hold her for as long as I wanted. All the others were stupid and ran away, but not my Bella monkey!"

The vampire Bella looked confused, but smiled indulgently at her daughter. "I'm glad you made a friend, Nessie. Did Jacob feed you?"

I quickly averted my thoughts and hoped Nessie would have to sense to do the same. "Yep, he did. Two meals." Phew!

"Good," Bella said, and then glanced at the clock over the fire. "It's getting late, sweetie. I think it's time Daddy and I put you to bed. Say goodnight to Jacob."

Nessie stretched out of Bella's arms with one arm, the other still clutching Bella the monkey. I grabbed her and hugged her tightly.

"Can't you stay, Jakey?" She asked pleading, making my heart wrench.

Just as I was about to beg Bella to allow me to stay I remembered promising Seth he could have the night off of patrols-- something about an opera in Seattle that his fiancée wanted to go to.

I groaned. "I'm sorry, my Nessie. I promised Seth the night off, and Leah's still at collage."

Nessie pouted, almost making me forget about my stupid werewolf duties. Just as I was about to rescind, she nodded and kissed me, saying, "alright, but you're staying tomorrow."

"Of course," I said, kissing her cheek and then her forehead. "Sweet dreams for my sweetest."

Nessie nodded and allowed Bella to take her from my arms. The two walked away down the hall towards the bathroom for bath time. Edward trailed behind them.

"Oh, Jacob?" Edward stopped a few feet down the hallway.

"Yep?" I asked quizzically, my hand stretched out for the doorknob.

"If you ever feed her that much ice cream again, you won't have the hands to pay for it."

So close!

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**Yes, it was insanely fluffy. Blame imprinting.**

**Here's a picture of Nessie's monkey, just delete the spaces: http : // www . topnews . in / files / monkey . jpg**


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